Sunday, 16 October 2011

I enjoyed my twitter exchange with you today. It was fun. Exchanges of views were had and there was a reasonable debate at times. I was dumbfounded by some peoples' idiocy though. Some people were so thick all they could say was 'LOL UR A CUNT MATE U NO NUTHIN JOURNO MANC SCUM!!11' yadda, yadda, yadda. But on the whole, it was good.

My tweet was this:

Luis Suarez says he always respects everyone. What about Ghana? And the lad he chomped on? Do us a favour.

1) Luis Suarez has not always respected everyone because if you respect everyone, you would not cause them physical harm. You would not bite an opponent. BITE. As in, sink your teeth into someone. That is not respectful. It is downright deplorable. Sickening, to the depths of your stomach. There is no defence for this.

2) Ah, Ghana. One of the main things I got from this debate was the following: (the tweet is gist)

"It's not disrespectful. Anyone would have done it. So that means it's not disrespectful."

That is, quite frankly, absolute nonsense. Just because others would do it, it doesn't mean it is respectful towards your opponent. A football match should be a contest between two teams who try to defeat each other fairly, respectfully and within the rules. An outfield player handling the ball on the line is not respectful. So what if YOU would have done the same. The player did it, and in the Corinthian spirit this game should be played in, it was not in the spirit of the game.

3) Yeah, but what about Scholes on the line, handballing goals in and fouling people?

Scholes has therefore cheated and not acted in the spirit of the game. I am not stupid; I can see it has happened. But why on earth is Scholes relevant here? Why does he need to be discussed? He acted wrongly, of course. And it's bad behaviour. But what has that got to do with it? We are talking about Luis Suarez. Can you justify Suarez's actions on the count of 'Yeah but Scholes is a c**t too' ?! No. And if you do, then you're not intelligent enough to engage into a debate with.

4) Amazingly, people claimed that Suarez's handball on the line was not cheating.

No, seriously. They actually believed it was not cheating.

YOUR OWN TWEETS.

These are the responses I received earlier. I will try and included the majority and respond to them.

Tim_LFC8 Tim Ward @ @Darren_Can The Ghana incident anyone would of done. And the chomped on bit, WTF you on about?

Tim. Before asking 'what the fuck' I am on about, read and learn about Suarez's behaviour in England r.e "chomping." And the Ghana incident? Are you saying that because anyone would have done it, it makes it OK? Of course not. Deal with the incident and on the base of it. It was a bad thing and a disrespectful thing to happen.

mario_aquilina Mario Aquilina @ @Darren_Can Is committing a handball in a game and being sent off for it a lack of respect?!?!

Yes. Of course. You should play the game without resorting to handling the ball to prevent a goal. It is disrespectful to the virtues of the game. If someone has worked out a way to score a goal, why should you deny them through cheating?

deadlydirk Damien Gartlan @ @Darren_Can what about Ghana ? He saved a goal, conceded a pen and got sent off. What has that to do with respect.

Because you shouldnt cheat in a football match? You shouldn't handball on the line? He did it to win the game, fair enough. But sometimes you should realise when you are beaten. The goal should have stood had it not been for a flagrant disregard of the rules.

chrisjohnwright Chris Wright @ @Darren_Can can't condone the biting but with regards to your Ghana shout, any player in the world would have done what he did!

Does that make it OK? Of course not. Just because you would have done the same, it doesn't mean the action is not disrespectful or cheating.

Shiraz109 Shiraz Khan @ @Darren_Can wats a handball in a world cup quarter final got to do with this issue? Any player wuld've dun the same and celebrated the miss!

Any player would have done it? That old chesnut. Yawn. See my reply above.

para98LFC Steven Pawley @ @Darren_Can Ghana was irrevelant he did that for his team! As for the lad he bit well dosent everyone make mistakes?

He did that for his team? So what? He cheated for his team, you mean. It was cheating. He stopped a goal with his hands and that is against the rules of football. How is this not clear? Everyone makes mistakes - Paul Scholes and millions more included - but why is that relevant?

Kessaris_ Themis Kessaris @ @Darren_Can why was the Ghana incident a cheat? He did it, got sent off, penalty, all ok.

Goodness, gracious me.

Shiraz109 Shiraz Khan @ @Darren_Can in football the main thing is winning! A handball on the line is not cheating! It comes with a known punishment red card & pen!!

Shiraz, why is it not cheating? The main thing in football is not winning. It is entertaining and playing the game in the right spirit. For those who seek glory in football, the main thing is winning. For true fans, the main thing is being enthralled, inspired and entertained by football. Winning is secondary. A handball on the line is not cheating? Are you serious? It's against the rules ergo it is cheating.

Scholes has committed bad acts too. He has cheated. And he has disrespected his opponents. But why is Scholes relevant here? He has nothing to do with it. He was probably watching Oldham DVDs and mourning the loss of Bettie Driver at the time. I'll miss her hotpot.